Written Across Time and Space
by BuffyAnn23
Summary: AU Set during GITF. Being on that spaceship changed the future for the Doctor and Rose, causing them to be separated during the Battle of Canary Wharf. The Clockwork droids were never supposed to be there, and a young woman hopes that she can go back and fix the timeline before it's too late. This won't be a very long story, but it should read almost like an episode.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who and All It's Characters Belong to the BBC. I am just borrowing em for a bit.**

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**Prologue**

The Torchwood hub was shaking. The levels on the monitor were showing the rift was spiking at maximum levels.

"What the hell is going on?" screamed a young redheaded woman.

"I don't know. Something's happened to change the timeline. The rift is trying to stabilize and it's causing an earthquake!" yelled the former Time Agent over the roar of the shuddering building.

"Where's..?"

"He's gone. I'm sorry."

"Gone? What do you mean he's gone? He can't be gone!"

"I'm sorry, but he is. He just…he faded away. There was nothing we could do."

The girl suddenly doubled over, her head was pounding. "Whatever is happening, we have to fix it now or I'm next" she looked at the man; her eyes wide.

He nodded, slipping back over to the controls. "If I can just pinpoint where the shift started, maybe we have a chance of stopping what ever happened that created it."

Gwen Cooper came running up from the med-bay, grabbing onto the railing to keep from falling over. "Jack, she's fallen ill now too. The Doctor and Owen are trying to stabilize her, but it doesn't look good."

"That's it!" said the ginger. "We have to stop this. Do you have the coordinates?"

The Captain ran back to the monitor. "Tosh?"

"Inputting them now," said a young woman of Asian descent.

He tossed the ginger a vortex manipulator and she immediately attached it around her wrist.

"If you can't stop this Red.." he looked at her pointedly. "You're next, and she'll follow."

"I know." She choked out. "Wish me luck, yeah?" she pressed down on the activation button and in a flash of blue light, she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One**

"Bloody hell!" the redhead grimaced and doubled over when she reappeared in a large corridor. "How can he stand using this thing." she questioned as she glanced down at her wrist. After getting her bearings, she activated the com link attached to her ear. "Jack, come in Jack."

"Right here darlin'. How was the trip?" she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Fantastic." She rolled her eyes as she surveyed her surroundings. "Where am I?"

"Not sure yet. We're having a hard time keeping the system online, and my main focus right now is keeping the com link between us up."

The girl reached into the pocket of her blue leather jacket to retrieve a hair tie, and pulled her long red hair up into a ponytail. "How is she?"

"Not good, but she still has a bit of time on you."

"Yeah, but if I can't figure this out it won't matter." She looked up and down both ends of the corridor. "Guess we start by finding out where I am, yeah?"

The grating clinked under her feet as she walked along. Whatever this place was, it seemed to be deserted. The cold and silence akin to that of a tomb, save but the faint hum of the overhead lights. They gave off a green tint, casting an eerie glow over every surface, and added to her sense of foreboding. She approached a window and looked out into a blanket of stars. "Well, I'm definitely in space."

"Okay, that's a start. Are we talking spaceship or space station?"

"Not sure yet," she moved to the next window over. "Hang on, I can see some writing along the hull. SS Madame De Pompadour." She read.

"Madame De Pompadour? Like the French courtesan?"

"I guess. Makes you wonder what _type_ of ship this is."

"Sounds like my _type_." She could almost see his eyebrows wagging in light of his cheeky tone.

"I'll bet." she said, in amusement. "Still, strange name for a ship."

"Hey, I knew a guy at the agency who named his '_Tame the Beast'_."

"Oh, god." She said rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, that phrase was uttered quite a lot on that ship."

"Jack," she spoke in a warning tone as she rounded another corner. "I really don't think now's the time for...Oh my god!"

"Yep, that brings back memories."

"Jack!" she hissed.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"There's someone…I'm, I'm not alone." her voice was barely above a whisper, but he could hear the fear in it.

"Are you ok? Who is it, who's there with you?"

The overhead lights were flickering, casting intermittent shadows across the looming figure before her. White gloved hands reached out, a long blade extending from one wrist glinted faintly under a crimson stain. Head tilted to the side; its eyes, deep dark empty pits staring back at her and the menacing grin painted on its stoney white face made her skin crawl.

"Yeah," she took a deep breath. "I…I'm good. I'm ok. It's just, I found this creepy lookin' android. I think it's been deactivated, It's not movin' and it's wearin' some sort a mask.

"What kind of mask?"

"Um," she swallowed audibly. "Like a court Jester lookin' type…thing."

"Sounds extra creepy."

"Shut up. You know how I hate anything that even remotely resembles a clown." she shuddered.

"Deep breaths love."

"Yeah, right, ok." She grimaced. "Well, it has long dark curly hair and it's dressed in old Victorian style clothes. There' s some sort of knife extending from it's wrist and there's…I…Oh god. I think it's blood."

"And you're sure it's not active?"

Cautiously reaching out and lightly tapping the droid's shoulder with her pointer finger, she let out the breath she was holding. "Yeah, it's…cold, actually. It seems to be frozen solid." Another flickering light caught her attention; this one coming from a porthole that sat slightly ajar on the wall behind the droid. Edging carefully around the creature that she was sure would give her nightmares for a good long while, she could make out a faint thumping sound. Slowly she pulled the porthole open. When she saw what was inside, her stomach churned and she covered her mouth in horror and looked away. "My god, there's a heart in the wall."

"What?"

"There's a heart, a human heart, in the wall. It's hooked up to a bunch a wires, like it's…like it's powering somethin'. What the hell is this place Jack?"

"Well, the readings show it's definitely a spaceship, 51st century to be exact. Somewhere in the Dagmar system. The ship's also giving off some residual temporal readings, though for the most part the connection seems to be gone now. Tosh is trying to pull up the schematics of the ship, but it'll take a few minutes to stabilize the system. And there's something else. The TARDIS now has virtual memory recordings coinciding for both timelines in her database. History is continuing to be re-written, and the minute you appeared on that spaceship, you became part of events. A fixed point."

"So that means whatever I do here will establish the new timeline."

"Yes. I'm sorry. I know it's a lot of pressure."

"Ya think?" she snapped. After a short pause, she spoke again. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"It's ok, I understand." When he spoke next , his voice was full of remorse. "Listen, there's something you're gonna need to see. It's one of the virtual memories from the new timeline. It explains what's happening to you. I'm uploading it to your vortex manipulator now."

The girl lifted up her wrist and activated the projection. She watched with tears streaming down her face as the events unfolded. "Canary Wharf?" she whispered.

"Yes."

"Jack, this can't…we can't let this happen. We have to find out what went wrong and fix it now."

"I know, and we will. Keep looking for them, and I'll contact you as soon as I have new information."

The redhead moved to turn off the projection, and her hand passed right through her wrist. Holding it up, she stared in shock, and after a few seconds it became solid again. "Ok, but please hurry," her head was pounding again. "We're running out of time."

"I'm on it honey. Just hold on." The com link went silent.

Looking back into those empty dead eyes of the droid's mask, she shuddered and took a step back. '_What happened here?_'

**A/N Ok, this chapter was a bit short too. I'm hoping the next will be a little longer. I've always loved writing. Mainly I wrote a lot of poetry and a few short stories, and even took a few classes in school for creative writing. This is the first time I've attempted fan-fiction, and I hope to do it a little justice. I have friend who is an amazing writer. I'm trying to convince her to post some stuff on here, but she was my main inspiration on attempting this so, thank you Gray Wolf. Love you! Oh, and I appreciate the reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I had Hotel California stuck in my head for a while so I had to incorporate it. As promised, this chapter is a bit longer.**

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**Chapter Two**

_"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair  
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air"_

She sang whenever she was scared or nervous. Mainly because she remembered how often her mother would sing to her when she was little to help calm her after a nightmare.

"_Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light  
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night_."

Out of most genres of music, she had a love for classic rock. The Eagles were just one of the many bands she got to see live. It was July 29, 1975. The 'One of these Nights' concert tour had made a stop at the Mississippi River Festival in Edwardsville, Illinois. It was the first time they played the song live, and she was there. Just one of the many perks of time travel.

"_There she stood in the doorway;  
I heard the mission bell "_

The song and the memory seemed to ease her tension a little, though she couldn't help throwing a glance back over her shoulder every few steps to make sure that the nightmarish droid hadn't reactivated and started following her.

_"And I was thinking to myself, 'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'_"

Definitely the latter so far. She stopped at a junction that lead in two separate directions. Rather than taking the one that was bordering on pitch black; except for a few patches of starlight filtering through the windows, she turned left and followed the one illuminated by pulsing red emergency lights.

_ "Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way,"_

The voices down the corridor pulled her from her thoughts. "_Welcome to the Hotel California_." She chuckled and took a deep breath following the sounds.

**~o0o~**

As she stepped into what looked like the main control room, she noticed the TARDIS nestled against the back wall. "Well at least I know I'm in the right place." She mused. Walking up to her, she stroked the outer frame of the door lovingly. "Hello old girl," she smiled fondly, and was greeted with a pleasant hum in the back of her mind.

"Who the hell are you?" came a voice from behind her.

Spinning around she saw a young dark skinned man with short cropped hair; arms folded across his chest and glaring. A slightly younger blonde woman stood just behind him; her eyes wide.

"Un...I mean, Mickey? Wow, you're… young," the mysterious woman said looking back at him.

"What are you on about?" Mickey replied in a frustrated tone.

"I'm sorry, it's just…you look so young." The girl chuckled. "I mean," she glanced at the blonde. "Rose looks the same, weeell, I forgot about the short hair phase," she paused, tilting her head slightly and then looked back at Mickey. "But you, you're just so..."

"Who are you?" Rose spoke up quietly, taking a few steps closer.

"Yeah, and how d'ya know who we are?" Mickey added angrily.

The redhead looked between the two of them and smiled. "I'm a friend. You can trust me, I'm just here to help and," she paused and looked around; her smile faltering. "Where's the Doctor?"

Rose bit her bottom lip and turned away.

Mickey snorted. "That idiot? He left! He left us to go chase after some French tart in the 18th century with no way of getting back, and now we're stuck here!" he screamed. "My very first trip and he leaves us stranded on a bloody ship full of creepy clockwork men who dissect people and use their organs as replacement parts!"

The redhead stared at him in shock. The Doctor wouldn't do that. He couldn't have. Granted, he was certainly a magnet for trouble. He was always babbling on a mile a minute and anyone who spent time with him knew they had better wear comfortable shoes, because you had to be able to run at a moment's notice. But even with the constant guilt he carried, along with keeping people at an arm's length for so long up to this point in his life, he wouldn't be cruel. He wouldn't strand them somewhere with no way home. No, he couldn't do this. He wouldn't do this. Not to Rose. She needed to hear more, but before she could open her mouth to ask for further details, she noticed the blonde's form shaking slightly behind the young man.

Mickey's eyes followed the girl's, and then he turned and placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm jus' angry and exhausted. I mean we were almost cut up for spare parts back there while he was off dancin' with the French and makin' banana daiquiris, and neither one of us knows how to fly the Tardis," he stopped short at the sight of her face, and realized he was making it worse. "But I'm sure he's working on a way back right now. 'Cause, he's the Doctor, and he always has a plan, right? So everything's gonna be ok."

"Mickey, why don't you give Rose and me a few minutes to talk, yeah?" the redhead spoke softly as she approached them. The young man eyed her warily. "I promise, I'm a friend and I'm just here to help."

"S' ok Mick," Rose said, patting the hand on her shoulder. "I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust her. Wait for me in the TARDIS, yeah?"

Mickey nodded, giving her hand a gentle squeeze and headed back to the timeship. He tossed a nervous glance over his shoulder before slipping inside.

The mystery girl turned back to Rose, who was attempting to gain some composure and wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Tell me what happened," she said gently.

Rose began to tell her the whole story about the time windows that led to 18th century France, meeting Reinette, and the clockwork droids that were trying to harvest the Madame's brain to power their ship. She was surprised at how easily the words poured out of her to this strange girl, whose name she didn't even know. Yet something about the redhead seemed so familiar, and she felt she could open up to her without any repercussions. "So ya' see he had to go. He had to save her to protect all of history and the timelines and stuff. But when he rode Arthur through the mirror, it severed the connection, and now there's no way for him to get back." Rose sniffed.

"Blimey, that's…that's just...I mean, what was he thinking?" the redhead said angrily.

Rose shrugged. "He's the Doctor. He saves people. S'what he does. Besides," her voice grew quieter. "He's in love with her. Maybe he wanted a chance at the slow path for once."

"What? Rose…no. There's no way," the girl was shaking her head.

"They had a connection," the blonde's voice wavered. "She saw into his mind, and he…he kissed her." The tears began falling again.

"He did what?!" the ginger's temper flared.

Rose put her hands over her face, and sank to the ground sobbing. "I don't know what to do. I can't access the emergency protocols to get us home, and I know Mickey's relyin' on me, but even if I could convince the TARDIS to take us home, I can't just leave the Doctor. I won't. Even if we don't matter to him, he's gotta come back for the TARDIS. He needs her. She's all that's left of his home."

"Rose, he needs you too." the girl said softly.

The blonde shook her head. "No, he really doesn't. And I should'a seen it comin'. M' not the first to travel with him, and I won't be the last. He told me the other night that he couldn't spend his life with me because I'm human. That one day I'd be gone and he has to live on alone. I thought maybe he was jus' afraid, 'cause he's lost so much, yeah? But I wanted to tell him that makin' the most of the life you have while you have it was worth it. To have love and be loved no matter what the outcome. And the truth is he does want a chance to have that, he just doesn't want it with me." Releasing a shuddering breath she continued. "I…I love him, and sometimes it seemed that maybe he…" choking back a sob, she shook her head again. "But I know now that he doesn't… that he'll never feel the same about me. The worst part is that I thought after all this time I at least meant somethin' to him, but m' jus' another in a long line. Sarah Jane, we met her on our last trip. She use to travel with him too, and he jus' left her behind. She told me it was worth it, said 'Some things were worth gettin' your heart broken for'. He had promised me I could still spend my life with him, that he'd never leave me like he did Sarah Jane, but then…" she trailed off; bowing her head.

"Oh, that man is so bloody frustrating sometimes I just wanna…" the redhead ran her hand over the back of her neck. Walking back over to Rose, she knelt down and took the blonde's hands in her own. "Listen to me, I promise you I'm gonna help fix this okay? We're gonna get him back."

Rose nodded. Something in her gut was telling her this woman was being sincere. "Can I ask, why 's this so important to you?" she asked quietly.

"Let's just say the future depends on it. I can't say any more than that." She added as Rose looked at her quizzically. "Spoilers," she winked and stood up, pulling Rose up with her. "Anyway, I think you should go back to the TARDIS for a while..."

"No." she shook her head. "M' stayin' here. 'S only been five hours, and m' not leavin' this spot til' he comes back."

"Even in the past you're just as stubborn as he is," the redhead muttered.

"What was that?" Rose arched her eyebrow.

"Nothing, just please, I need you to trust me right now. I just need some time to look around. I will come and get you as soon as I've found a way to get him back. It's just not safe in here right now. I came across one of those… _things_ before I found you guys.

"Yeah, we were lookin' for more time windows to try to get the Doctor back when it attacked. If it hadn't been for Mickey I…" Rose shuddered. "He froze it usin' the fire extinguisher. It won't come after us again."

"Well we can't be sure all those droids have gone. You may have stopped that one for now, and the ones on the other side of the time window may have been cutoff, but if there are any others still on this ship, they could still be active and dangerous." Rose was poised to argue again and she put her hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Please." She noticed her hand flicker again, and quickly dropped it back to her side.

Rose sighed in frustration, but looking into the girl's eyes, she once again had that feeling of trust wash over her. "Fine, I'll go check on Mickey for a few minutes and give him an update, but then 'm comin' right back. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am," the ginger saluted, earning an eye roll from the blonde.

As soon as Rose had slipped inside the TARDIS, the girl activated her com link. "Jack?"

"Hey Red, all clear?"

"Yeah, I sent her back to the TARDIS for a bit. She didn't want to go."

"Well, you know how stubborn she is, and when she's got her mind set it's hard to convince her otherwise. How are you doing?"

"I'm Marty McFly'n at the school dance right now."

"How bad?"

"Just my hand so far. It's kinda flickerin' on and off like a hologram, and my memory is getting worse. I'm starting to forget things." She sighed. "Whadd'ya got for me?"

"Well, we now know for sure that this is where the shift began. They were never supposed to be on that ship. "Those droids, they're messing with time. That's what drew the TARDIS there. So whatever they are, whatever they want, they caused this."

"Yeah, Rose filled those gaps in. They're repair droids. They didn't have the parts to fix the ship after it was damaged in an Ion storm so they used the crew." She paused hearing Jack groan. "Yeah, so the only part they still needed was a brain to repair the command circuit of the ship. Guess they figured since the ship was named after Madame de Pompadour, she was their best bet. So they opened time portals to the 18th century to follow her life until they deemed her brain would be compatible."

"Which they figured was?"

"Age thirty-seven."

"Why thirty-seven?"

"'Cause that's how old the ship is?"

"Seriously?"

"Yep." she said, popping the 'P'. "They're very literal."

"You know, this is starting to become a running joke for those two. I mean, what is it with them and psychotic robots? The Autons, the Anne Droid, the Roboforms, oh, and those creepy Hosts from a couple of Christmas ago during their anniversary party on the Titanic."

"In the Hosts' defense, I'd be homicidal too if I had to watch people reenact the movie while playing that Celine Dion song over and over again."

"Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor yet." He chuckled.

"Well, ya know, just tryin' to stay calm and all that." She wandered around the room; picking up various objects and examining them before setting them down again.

"So, have you talked to the Doc yet? The one with you now, I mean? Maybe he can give some further insight to help us figure out whatever happened on that ship to change things. "

"Um, that's not really an option right now."

"Why? Is he being difficult again?"

"You could say that. He's the one who broke the connections to the time windows by jumping through a mirror on a horse to save the mistress of King Louie the 15th after snogging her and allowing her to wonder around his mind, and now he's stuck there." She said irritably.

"He did what?!" yelled Jack. The connection went silent.

"Jack what's going on? Jack?" she placed a hand over the com link in her ear trying to make out the faint noises. There were muffled shouts, underneath the steady rumbling of the quake and after a few moments, his voice was back in her ear.

Slightly breathless, he replied. "I'm here Red, everything's fine…"

"What the hell was that for?" the Doctor cried out angrily in the background.

"You'll remember soon enough, and you'll agree you deserved it!" Jack shouted back.

"We're in the middle of a full-blown crisis, and you want to start a fist fight?" roared the Doctor.

The redhead sat down in the Captain's chair and rubbed her hands over her eyes. '_They would have to do this now. Hundred's of years old, the pair of em' and they still act like children'. _She crossed her arms over her chest and propped her feet up on the console; chewing her bottom lip. "Jack, think you can stow the macho crap for now and talk to me about the time windows so we can figure out how to get him back?"

"Yeah, sorry. Well, while the readings show there were originally multiple time windows, they all seemed to be closed when we ran the diagnostics, and now we know why." He added bitterly. "However, that faint energy signature that we picked up when you first came on board shows that there is still one time window that wasn't severed when the connection was broke."

"Okay, so which one is it, and more importantly, how do I get through it." She said jumping to her feet.

"The schematics pinpoint the energy signature is coming from the fireplace. It was the original doorway that was activated."

"Great! _How do I get through_?" she punctuated each word.

There was a pause. "You don't."

"What do you mean I don't?"

"I mean, the connection was offline when all the other windows were severed, which is why it's still linked to the ship. But at this point, it can only be activated from the other side."

"Can I just use the TARDIS to go pick him up?"

"Not without disrupting the timelines further."

"That's bloody fantastic! I'm running out of time, and we're what? Playing the waiting game?" She sighed and plopped back down on the Captain's chair, lightly thumping her head against headrest.

"Look, I know you're frustrated, but I need you to stay positive, ok?"

"Yeah, fine." she mumbled. "Do we at least have any idea how long he was gone, or how he got back?"

"Well, we could always go to the source. Hang on a sec." After a few moments, he spoke again. "He thinks it was roughly about five and a half hours when he came back through the fireplace. Although he also says he can't be definitively sure since he has two separate sets of memories right now, and then proceeded into his techno babble," he paused. "Yeah, starting to remember why you deserved that now aren't ya?" he shouted.

She was getting a headache again. "Ok, well Rose said it had been about five hours when I came in. So let's hope he's right about the timeframe before mine's up. Where were they going anyway? In the original timeline I mean, where were they heading when they ended up here?"

"Well after Mickey called about the problems at the school, they ran into Sarah Jane and helped her defeat the Krillitanes. When everything was sorted he said Mickey asked to join them for a bit; which Rose wasn't exactly happy about, and he took them to Kataa Floko for a bit of R&R. Right after that was when they accidentally fell out of the vortex and ended up in the parallel world."

She closed her eyes; brows furrowed. "I…" she struggled to remember the story. She was starting to feel as though she was standing at the edge of a vast sea; every droplet of water containing echo of the past. Each time she attempted to recall a memory, it seemed as though it was riding a wave; pushing towards her only to have the current drag it back out again. "There were...Cybermen, right?"

"Yeah. When Rose found out her dad, Pete was still alive in that world, she convinced the Doc to let her go see him. That's when all hell broke loose. The Cybermen attacked her parallel parents' anniversary party and while Pete escaped, they captured Jackie and had her assimilated. The Doctor and Pete banded a small group together and managed to defeat the Cyber-Controller, as well as blowing up the Cyber factory. When Pete found out Rose was his parallel daughter, he couldn't really handle it. He wouldn't even talk to her, and then Mickey decided to stay behind to replace his parallel self who had also been killed, and help continue taking down the Cyber factories around the world. It really took a toll on Rose. She felt rejected by her dad, and she lost Mickey at the same time. That trip started the change in their relationship. The Doc finally got his head out of his ass, and after the incident with the Beast on Krop-Tor, he took her to Barcelona where…" he chuckled again. "Well, we all know what happened there."

She could see his eyebrows wagging again, and sighed. "Canary Wharf?" she prompted.

"Right." He cleared his throat. "Well, of course you know how the old Torchwood team was; before I fixed it by the way. They were meddling with the void which allowed the Cybermen to cross over to our world, and then of course at the same time, managed to bring the Daleks back as well." He said angrily. "Pete and Mickey who were running the Torchwood team in the parallel world led a small rescue op across the void to help stop the invasion. When Pete found out the Jackie here was still alive, they were reunited and he made the decision to stay in this world. The Doc seeing that it wouldn't cause any problems with the timeline and knowing that it would finally make one universe right in giving Rose a proper family, he didn't argue. Mickey at that time decided to stay as well since his Gran had died in the parallel world and there was nothing really left for him to go back to. The Doc figured out how to send both the Cybermen and the Daleks into the void, but realized there was a danger of them all being pulled in since crossing back and forth to the parallel world contaminated them with _void stuff. _ Jackie was the only one protected since she had never been across, but the Doc didn't want them anywhere near that floor. Rose was livid with him because she didn't want to leave his side, but with Jackie's help, he convinced her that she wasn't just watching out for herself any longer and he wanted them safe. After the Doctor secured Rose, Pete and Jackie inside the Tardis, he and Mickey opened the void. When the lever slipped, Mickey used the repelling hook on his belt to anchor himself to the magna clamp and was able to get the lever back online without being sucked in. "

"So now the question is, if Mickey was the one who originally helped the Doctor open the void," she paused. "How did Rose end up in that lever room?"

"All I know is he tried to send her away again like he did on Satellite 5." Jack said a little bit curtly.

She knew that memory wasn't exactly a good one for him. He had forgiven the Doctor for leaving him behind. And although he understood why he did, it was still a sore subject. "And of course she came back, like always." She shook her head. "But I don't understand why he would send her away again. I thought you said he finally realized…" she groaned. "This has to do with _her_ doesn't it? Reinette?"

"I don't know. This doesn't even sound like the Doc. It's just so completely out of character for him; like his life story is being written by two different people. When he was all beautiful blue eyes and leather, nothing could come between those two. It was like an unspoken rule when I started traveling with them. It was basically 'Hands off the Blonde, and you and I are cool'. And from what I know those feelings only got stronger after he regenerated, which of course scared him and he had to start putting up those walls again. But I just can't see him purposely hurting Rose by falling for another woman in order to put distance between them. Maybe he's infected with some sort of Alien Lust Virus."

"If only. I know he brought Mickey on board as a distraction. That's exactly what he's doing with that woman Jack, and in the worst way possible. We don't even know how long he's been over there or what he's been doing with…"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're right. We don't know anything for sure yet until you've talked to him. And ok, he may have kissed her, but there is no way he would ever…"

"Doesn't matter whether he did or not. 'Cause Rose believes he did. She believes he chose Reinette over her. She's convinced herself that he doesn't care about her, and maybe never did. And with the way he was always keeping everything inside, he's not gonna give her a reason to think otherwise. He's gonna use whatever happened with that woman to push her away, right into another universe."

"So stop him."

"I…I don't even know where to begin. I can't even really tell him the truth without possibly creating another paradox. Give me Daleks, give me Cybermen. Bring on the Slitheen and the Vashta Nerada. Hell, I'll even take on a damn Alien Lust Virus. That I can deal with. There's a monster, find a way to kill it and save the world, go have chips. But this, trying to get the most stubborn man in all of creation to let go of his fears, make him admit to and act on his feelings, when all he looks at is what could happen in the future instead of focusing on what's right in front of him. How? How do I do that?"

"You be you."

She leaned her head back and took a deep breath. "You really believe in me that much, huh?"

"Well if anyone..." he stopped abruptly. "Hold on, I'm getting a reading. The time window's been activated."

"It's about bloody time!" The grating sound of the fireplace moving punctured the surrounding silence. "Yeah, I can hear him...oh you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?"

"He's inviting that woman to come with him."

"That's it, I'm punching him again!"

"I'm signing off Jack."

"Hey Red, what I was going to say before… I know you can do this. If anyone can get through to that thick skull of his besides Rose, it's you. I'll see you soon."

"Ok." She took a another deep breath as she waited for the Time Lord to make his appearance. _'I hope you're right Jack. I really hope you're right.'_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you guys for the reviews. There was another quote from a Don Henley song that I wanted to use, but I couldn't find the right place to add it without it causing more questions for The Doctor. The quote was **

"When you find somebody to love in this world, you better hang on tooth and nail. The wolf is always at the door."

**I just liked the sound of it, anyways, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Three**

"Roooooose!" the Doctor called out, bouncing on his feet with a pleased grin. "Mickey?" he paused. "Rose?" he called out again. "Where are you?" His face fell at the lack of response, the grin quickly dissolving into a pout. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked, thinking back over everything that had happened. While it had technically only been a couple of hours for him, the thought of being separated from Rose for hundreds of years had made him extremely anxious to see her.

Once he had broken through the mirror, he severed the droids connection to the ship, effectively destroying them. After the droids had been disposed of and the party resumed, he had plucked a glass of wine from a passing tray and slipped out unnoticed into one of the sitting rooms to look out the window. As he had stood there staring up at the stars, he imagined Rose doing the same and ran a hand over his face. He knew what he had done was reckless, and that neither Rose nor his own conscience would have let innocent people die. Yet still he had managed to trap himself in another time, far away from his beloved ship and the one person in all of creation he cared for the most. He also knew at that moment he would do whatever it took to find his way back, even though the situation seemed dire at the time. The thought of having to live two decades on the slow path until he could see her again terrified him to his core, so when Reinette found him and showed him that the original fireplace had been moved there to the castle, he was elated. After a little prodding with his sonic screwdriver, the window activated to bring him home. He felt bad seeing Reinette's face fall as the wall spun back into the ship. He figured taking her on a trip couldn't hurt after everything she had been through and done to help him. He ignored the fluttering in his stomach and the warning bells in his head and ducked down to call to her through the fireplace telling her to pack a bag and pick a star, before leaping to his feet to call out for his companions.

The Doctor began to feel slightly apprehensive as he approached the main control room. He had expected to see Rose's beautiful face, lit up with that smile she only held for him, and ready to be swept up in one of their amazing reunion hugs that he so cherished. All he wanted at that moment was to feel her in his arms to help calm his nerves, and assure him that everything was alright and back to normal.

As he came into the control room he was babbling away. "Reinette actually kept the original fireplace and I was able to slip back through with some slight jiggery-pokery on my part. Isn't that brilliant?"

He stopped short at the sight of the ginger haired girl sitting in the Captain's chair with her feet propped up on the console. Her arms were crossed and she was staring at her feet very intently. His face became an emotionless mask and his mouth formed a thin line. When he next spoke, his voice took a dark undertone. "Who are you?" he asked, reaching into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver.

"A friend, you don't need that." the girl spoke calmly. "And you can't go back for her."

"What are you talking about?" his brows furrowed in confusion. "Where's Rose?" he asked adjusting the settings on his sonic and scanning the room for some sign of his companion.

"You can't go back for Madame de Pompadour," she said popping the second 'P'

"What?" he turned back to her with a glare. "Who are you, and where the hell is Rose?" he snapped.

She continued to stare at her trainers, ignoring the evil eye he was giving her and seemingly not at all bothered by his outburst. "She's safe. Mickey is too," she added, noting he hadn't given the young man a second thought since the first time he called out for them. "They're in the TARDIS." she gestured over her shoulder with her thumb.

The Doctor looked towards the TARDIS with a worried expression. The girl sighed and stood up "Honestly, she's fine; physically anyway." His head snapped back towards her as she continued to speak. "She's got Mickey to thank for that. Found one of those creepy masked droids back there and froze it before it could harvest their organs. Not that you would've known, seein' as you were off partyin' with the French. I shudder to think what would have happened to her if he hadn't been here."

"I was not off partying with Fre…"

"Five and a half hours by the way." She leaned back against the wall, crossing one foot over the other as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"What?"

"How long you've been gone. It's been five and a half hours, in case you were wondering." Before the Doctor even had a chance to respond, the redhead began laying into him. "And what were you thinking inviting her along anyway? You want to take an important historical figure out of her timeline for a quick trip to the stars with your track record of accidental destinations? Did you fall off that horse and hit your head when you crashed through that mirror? 'Cause that's all kinds of levels of stupid right there."

"It was only going to be one trip. I didn't… I wasn't…" he sputtered. "How do you know any of this, and who the bloody hell are you?!" shouted the Doctor.

"Spoilers."

"What?"

The redhead glanced over at him warily. "I'm someone who's going to be very important to you in the future, and I'm here to try to clean up this mess you've made."

"The mess I've…"

"Are you in love with her?"

"Wha- Who?"

"Reinette?" the girl bit out.

"What, no. How could I be? I've barely known her a day. I mean she is attractive, and quite brilliant, and I admit I may have been a bit star struck..."

"Diggin' the hole deeper there, Doc."

He glared at her again. "Reinette is an amazing woman, and I cared about her but I'm not in love with her." '_Why was he telling this girl any of this?_'

"But you're in love with Rose." It wasn't a question.

"Rose and I are none of your business." He ground out. "Don't presume to think you know everything just because you're from my future."

"Ok, I'm presuming am I? Well, let's see," she began ticking items off on her fingers. "You asked her to come away with you, what was it…3 times? You never ask more than once." You took her back to be with her dad when he died so he wouldn't die alone…"

"She created a paradox."

"Oh please, like you've never made an error in judgment during the heat of the moment. And anyway, I wasn't finished."

"Rude and ginger." he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that," she remarked.

The Doctor crossed his arms across his chest and shrugged, reminding her of some of the old photos Jack had showed her of his previous regeneration.

"She smirked and continued. "You've already had a first date."

The Doctor glanced over, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh c'mon, taking her to see the end of the earth. Talk about trying to make a big first impression. Following that with a cozy little dinner of chips, although, she shouldn't have had to pay. I don't know why with as many places as you go, you don't keep more currency on you." Ignoring the glare her was now giving her, she continued. "You sculpted a statue in her likeness, oh…and you kissed her in Rome."

"I…well, I…" he sputtered.

"And speaking of kisses, I'll give you the number one reason. You gave your life for her back on Satellite 5, and this regeneration," she motioned in his direction, "was made for her. You recreated yourself based on your feelings for her into someone who would be her perfect match. Just as she recreated herself to be yours."

His head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"

_'Crap' _"Nothing." She waved her hands dismissively; quickly changing the subject. "Not to mention you get all puppy dog eyed whenever you look at her."

"I do not get all puppy dog eyed." He protested weakly, losing his train of thought.

"Riiight…so, do you need a written formal request, or are you gonna go in there and set things straight with Rose?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she thinks you ran off and left her for the slow path with the King's Mistress."

"I… No. What?"

"Well, what did you expect her to think when you go snogging that woman and letting her walk around your brain so intimately?"

"I didn't…that's not what happened. She kissed me. And I didn't ask her to look at my memories; I was just trying to find out...wait, why am I even trying to explain myself to you?"

"Good question. You _should _be explaining yourself to Rose."

The Doctor glared at her, teeth clenched. "For the last time, Rose and I are none of your business."

"Oh, but you are."

"And why is that hmm?" he was becoming more and more agitated by the second. "No, better yet, how about you start by telling me the truth about who you are, and why you're really here."

The girl sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Temporal Paradox. Don't give me that look, I didn't cause it. Look, you always say that no one is supposed to know too much about their future, so I can't tell you everything you want to know. All I can tell you is that what happened here today caused a ripple that changed the future. All of our futures." she amended. "And if you don't fix this unspoken tension between the two of you, you're going to lose her."

His eyes burned into her as she spoke. "Why should I believe you? Why should I believe any of this? I don't even know who you are. You tell me you're from my future, you talk in riddles and you just expect me to trust you?"

"I want you to look at my memories."

"What?"

"I've seen what happens if this new timeline is allowed to continue, and you need to see it to." She observed his discomfort. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna go barging into your mind like _she_ did. I'm better than that. And I know how to keep you away from the stuff I don't want seen." She walked over and stopped directly in front of him. "Go on then," she said giving the Doctor a stern look.

He hesitated for a moment and then nodded, raising his arms. The girl pushed the images she had watched earlier to the forefront of her mind as he closed his eyes and touched the tips of his fingers to her temples. The pictures began to take shape as he saw short flashes of Cybermen and Daleks. Anger crossed over his features. _'Of course they survived. They always manage to survive and destroy everything'_. Then there was a room. A room of white, and Rose was screaming and reaching for him as she was pulled through the air towards nothingness before being caught in the arms of a dead man and vanishing. "Pete? Pete Tyler? That's…that's Rose's father." he spoke through gritted teeth. "But he's dead, how can he be…"

"Focus Doctor," The redhead's voice interrupted his questioning.

He was standing with his face pressed against one of the white walls and he was overwhelmed with the feeling of his hearts breaking as the image dissolved and the final memory took its place. He was standing on a deserted beach staring at Rose's tearstained face, and he couldn't even reach out to touch her. In the distance he could see Mickey, Jackie and Pete leaning up against a large Jeep. He couldn't feel the bitter wind that swept around them, but the feelings of loss, guilt and regret overwhelmed his senses.

_"Am I ever gonna see you again?" Rose asked shakily._

_"You can't." he spoke softly._

_"What are you gonna do?"_

_"Oh, I've got the TARDIS. Same old life. Last of the Time Lords."_

_"On your own?"_

_He nodded, attempting a weak smile while trying to keep his emotions in check._

_"I L…" the words caught in her throat for a moment and she looked away. Taking a deep breath she met his eyes. "I Love You." she choked out as the tears fell in earnest._

_"Quite right too." He smiled softly as he felt his hearts breaking. "And I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it. Rose Tyler," his mouth began to form the words, but his time had run out._

Opening his eyes and shuddering, he pulled back from the girl like she had burned him. "What?" he breathed "That..." he quickly wiped away the tears that were running down his cheeks.

"That's what will happen if you don't fix this." the redhead replied, her voice wavering.

The Doctor shook his head. "That's not….That's impossible."

"I'm sorry, but it is. Doctor, you were never meant to come here. Those….things, those droids, they changed the past. You use what happened here today to put up more barriers between you and Rose which ultimately leads to your separation."

"No. I…I can't listen to this."

"Look, I get it. You think by pushing her away it would spare you the pain of losing her. But it won't. All it will lead to is more pain and regret." she pleaded with him. "The two of you are stronger together, but you saw those images too Doctor. You sent her away again," she held up her hand to stop him from protesting. "Yeah, I know, 'for her own protection'," she emphasized with finger quotes. "You decided all on your own that she would be better off in the other world without you, and you talked both Pete and Mickey into the same thing. But she wasn't gonna let you. Because she's just as stubborn as you are and she came back. But Doctor, she was never supposed to be in that lever room."

He closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't want to believe the truth of her words, but now he had seen it with his own eyes. Rose had been separate from him, forever. He knew that someday he would eventually lose her, too afraid to look ahead at her timeline to see what the future held, but with all the possibilities he imagined, this was never one of them. He couldn't help but think that maybe this was his punishment for letting himself get to close to her. Maybe it would be better for her to be a world away, safe from him and all the danger and destruction he seemed to bring about. She could finally have a fantastic life. She would have the family she always wanted, with her parents both alive and together. She would even have Mickey, and she could finally settle down with a house and a family of her own.

He spoke quietly but resolutely, "But she was safe, and she had her family. She… she got her dad back, and Mickey. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be. She won't be in danger anymore, and can finally have a fantastic life."

"Are you serious?" the redhead yelled furiously. "You can't mean that!" she felt her control slipping. He wasn't supposed to be using this information to fuel his fears. He was supposed to be fighting to keep Rose with him and instead he was trying to convince himself it would be better for her to go. As far as stubbornness went, this was much worse than she had ever expected. He was afraid to let himself love her. "Of all the stupid, pigheaded, thoughts you've had…"

"I can't give her the life she wants! I can't be domestic, I can't give her a house with a picket fence or a family!" he roared. "You said you know me, in your future. Then you know I don't die. I regenerate, and then a new man with a new face walks away. But she's human. She can be with me for as long as she lives her fragile human existence, but then I have to go on…alone. There is no happily ever after for me!"

She threw her hands up in frustration. "Oh, here we go… The Oncoming Storm. How do you know that? How do you even know that's what she wants, have you talked to her?" she was shouting. "No, because you have to be Mr. Thickity, Thick face from Thicktown, all moody and brooding because '_you're cursed. The last of the Time Lords, doomed to spend his life alone'_." she said, in a mocking tone. "Same song, different verse. "

His eyes were dark, and his jaw was clenched. "It doesn't matter." He turned away, running his hands through his hair. "I can't."

"But you could swan off and play house with Reinette?"

"That is not what I was doing."

"No? Because that's exactly what it looked like to Rose. You have been so closed off when it comes to your past, but you opened up your mind and allowed Reinette to walk right in. Why?"

"Because she didn't matter!" his voice echoed throughout the corridor, and they stood just staring at one another for a moment. "She only saw a few random glimpses inside my head, and even if she had seen more, what she thought didn't matter to me because I don't want her."

"Yet you continue to push away the woman you do want." She pointed out.

He took a deep breath, "If Rose saw what I've done, my past and who I really am, she wouldn't want me." He ran his hands over his face and sighed.

"You are completely daft, you know that?" He looked back at her in confusion. "She looked into the time vortex. She saw it all Doctor. Everything that has ever been, and she could have run from it, run from you. But she didn't did she? Instead she came back to save you and laid the Dalek fleet to waste."

His eyes were lost in remembrance and he swallowed roughly.

"If that doesn't convince you of her love, I don't know what can. You have to let go Doctor, you have to stop being so damn afraid of what you could lose, and embrace what you have. You can't honestly tell me that it will hurt any less whether you lost her tomorrow, or in a hundred years. Sometimes it's better to live on with the pain when it's mixed with the joy and happiness of the memories of the life you're able to share no matter how fleeting, than to live on chasing the ghosts of regret. "

The Doctor looked defeated. Hundreds of years of pain etched across his face. "I try so hard to make up for my past with everything I do, every person I save. I live with regret every day and I go on. But if I let myself get that close and then…" his voice broke, and his eyes clouded over in anguish. "I don't know if I can live without her." He said softly.

She wanted to give him hope, some piece of mind as he stood there looking so broken. She racked her brain for something, anything she could safely tell him without giving too much away. Ultimately, she couldn't make him change this, no matter what it meant for her future. It had to be his decision. One thought pushed its way to the forefront of her mind, something she was told never to use unless it meant life or death. Well, if there was ever a better time to put that theory to the test, it would be now. She would give him this. A tiny spark of the promise it could mean for his future if he would just let down all those barriers. She walked over and stood in front of the Time Lord, taking his hand in her own.

The Doctor looked down at their entwined fingers; amazed by the tingling sensation of familiarity he felt and looked up into the girl's hazel eyes.

"I don't know how else to prove to you that's it's all worth it, and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but…" she broke off as she leaned up and whispered something in the Time Lord's ear that made his jaw go slack and the color drain from his face.

Pulling back the girl squeezed his hand and searched his face. "Are we ok now? Doctor? Are we good?"  
He nodded slowly, his eyes wide.

"How did you?" he swallowed thickly. "You know my name, my real name. Please tell me who you are." his voice shook.

She shook her head. "Spoilers."

"Doctor?" Rose's timid voice broke the silence.

The Time Lord and the redhead both looked back at her. Their glistening eyes mirrored her own, and the Doctor looked shaken. Rose began to shift uncomfortably as the mystery girl looked back up at the Doctor and squeezed his hand before dropping it. Turning, she walked towards Rose. When she stopped in front of her, she reached out and took her hands.

"You are an amazing woman Rose Tyler," she said choking back a sob before wrapping her arms around Rose's neck and hugging her tight. Silent tears fell against Rose's shoulder, and although slightly unnerved by this mystery woman, she had the distinct urge to comfort her and began stroking the girl's back.

After a few minutes, the girl's tears began to taper off and she spoke in a low voice, "You can't give up ok? I know he screwed up, but don't give up. You have to keep trying. Don't let him push you away because you two are meant to be. It was written in the stars across time and space. He may be stubborn, but so are you. You're his strength Rose. The wolf howling in the middle of the storm." She whispered the last sentence and felt Rose's body stiffen. Pulling back, hazel eyes met warm amber.

"Why did you say that? Why those words?" Rose asked in a low voice, chancing a glance at the Doctor who stood across the room motionless.

The girl smiled as she placed her index finger against her lips in a shushing motion. Her eyes glowed gold for a split second before fading back to normal and Rose gasped.

"Who are you?"

"You've seen all that was, all that is, and all that ever could be. I think maybe deep down, you already know the answer to that question."

Rose's breath caught as the gut sensation she had been having since meeting the mystery girl washed over her and a deeper instinct made the connection. She reached a shaky hand up and cupped the redhead's cheek, her brown eyes glistening.

The girl nodded softly. "You've always been the clever one." she said smiling and pulling away.

The Doctor had finally managed to get his legs to work, and moved to stand next to Rose. He slipped his hand into hers lacing their fingers together, and they both looked into one another's eyes.

"I've gotta go," the ginger said softly. When the Doctor started to speak, she shook her head and looked at him sincerely. "Just think about what I said, _Really Think._" Her eyes flicked between the pair. "You two, The Doctor and Rose Tyler. The stuff of legend."

She took a deep breath. The future, _her future _was in their hands now. Hell, she could easily blink out of existence before she made it back to the hub if the Doctor didn't pull his head out of his arse and just admit his feelings. '_Oi! That was rude,_' she thought to herself, albeit true. She activated the com link in her ear as she took a few steps back. Turning her head away slightly, she whispered. "Jack? Jack, are you there? Jack, come in." She was met with only static as she looked down at her hand, watching it once again transition between solid and see through.

"Wait," Rose called out. "What's your name? Can you at least tell us that?"

The ginger looked up and smiled softly shaking her head, "Not yet, but I hope I'll see you again soon." The Doctor attempted to speak again, but she put her hand up. "It will all make sense when it's time. I promise." Her gaze drifted to Rose, whose expression held love and warmth. "Anyway," she cleared her throat and shook her head. "Time to go. Allons-y!" she shouted activating the vortex manipulator on her wrist and vanishing into thin air.

The Doctor was the first to break the silence. "She knew about me, about us and our future. Things she shouldn't have known. What did she say to you?"

Rose shook her head. "Maybe it's best if we don't know too much about the future, yeah? Spoilers and all that." she smiled tongue in teeth, squeezing his hand.

He squeezed back, and his hearts began to pound against his chest as he pulled her closer. "Oh Rose, I'm so sorry." He breathed out. "I...I wasn't thinking clearly. I never meant to leave you."

Rose looked up into his deep soulful brown eyes and took a breath. "I know you are, and I get why you had to do it. They were going to kill her, and she needed your help and protection. I'm just...it hurt. I thought you left us, left me." She finished quietly dropping her head.

"No Rose," he said placing his hand beneath her chin and tilting her head up to look at him. "Never. Even though it was only a couple of hours for me, I was miserable. All I could do was think of ways to try to get back to you. I would have done whatever it took. I was stupid, and arrogant, and reckless, and I wasn't thinking at all, until I looked up at those broken shards on the wall and realized what I had done." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm just so tired of letting people down, and I did have to save her. I couldn't just let those things change history, when they were never meant to be here in the first place." He took her face in his hands. "But I swear to you, I never meant to leave you like that. I would have done whatever it took to get back to you."

He brushed away the tears running down her cheeks, and pulled her into his embrace. He thought of the girl's words to him before. Would it really be so hard for him to admit to Rose how he felt? She was right, if there was one thing he had learned over his 900+ years, it was that he didn't want to have any more regrets. Even if he had a hundred years with her, or two days he didn't want to be haunted by 'what if's' after she was gone. He wanted to make the most of the time he had with her now. It was time for the Time Lord to stop running.

She sniffed. "S' okay Doctor, and…" she paused and took a breath. "I know how much you love her so, if you want to go back and be with her for a while, me and Mickey can always go home for a bit."

"No." his abrupt tone startled her for a moment as he gently grasped her shoulders, pulling back to look into her eyes. "I don't want you to go."

"But I thought…" she faltered.

"Oh Rose," he said pulling her back into his embrace. "I didn't love Reinette. I admit that I was a bit infatuated and intrigued by her position in human history, but I didn't love her. How could I when…" he paused. '_Stop being a coward,_' he heard the ginger say in his head. He took another breath. "I know I said that you could spend the rest of your life with me, but I couldn't spend the rest of mine with you, and that still holds true..."

"S'okay Doctor," she said abruptly. "I understand that you don't do...domestics, but I'm not goin' anywhere. I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never gonna leave you. Even if you don't...even if nothing changes and we just stay best mates, yeah? It's enough for me."

"What if I want more?" he asked gently. Rose's breath hitched and she slowly pulled back searching his eyes.

"Rassilon help me, I'm rubbish at this." he said rubbing his neck. He looked down and took both of her hands in his own. "The truth is I'm tired Rose," he spoke softly looking into her eyes. "Tired of running from what I really want. Tired of running from…you," he swallowed roughly as Rose's jaw dropped slightly. "I keep putting barriers between us; hurting you in the process, because I thought it would make it easier when I lose you one day. And I'm ashamed, because I used both Reinette's and Mickey's affections as distractions to keep us apart because I was afraid. But I was wrong, and I can't do it anymore. I don't want to. No matter how much time we have, I want to make the most of it. Together, if you want." He shrugged his shoulders slightly.

A smile began to spread across Rose's face and ignited his own, crinkling the corners of his eyes. He looked down at their hands, and ran circles over the tops of hers with his thumbs. He swallowed again, and looked up and into her eyes.

"Rose…" he paused, taking a deep breath.

Her lips twitched at the corners and she shook her head. "S' ok, you don't have to say…"

"I know I don't," he interrupted as he wrapped his arms around her waist; drawing her closer. "But just so you know that I meant everything I've said here today," he looked deeply into her eyes. "Rose Tyler, I love you so very, very much."

The smile that lit up her face at that moment took his breath away. She placed her hands on his chest, one above each heart. "I love you too, my Doctor."

The air began to sizzle around them, and all those excuses he made, all those barriers that had been put in place for so long keeping them apart shattered. He knew in this moment that no matter how much time they had together, it would never be enough, but he was no longer going to run away from the one thing he wanted most. If he had to suffer through the pain of living on one day without her, then having the memories they would make together would dull that pain enough for him to go on. He loved this woman with his entire being, the pink and yellow human who had saved him in his darkest hour. He would deny them this no longer.

He leaned down until their lips were centimeters apart, their breath mingling. Lightly nuzzling her nose with his own, he closed the remaining distance between them kissing her ever so softly. Pulling back slightly, he tilted his head the opposite direction. His lips parted a fraction, and he descended on her mouth again, capturing her top lip between both of his. He repeated the action once more, as his hands moved up to cup the sides of her face. He gently slid his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. Their tongues dueling in a gentle rhythm as her hands moved up and into his hair; running her fingers through the thick chocolate locks.

After a few minutes and a need for air on Rose's part, they pulled back and she rested her forehead against his. She smiled, taking deep breaths. "Well, that was…"

"Yeah." He chuckled, smiling just as brightly. "I never realized it could be like…Oh Rose, I was such a fool. I wasted so much time."

"Shh," she pulled back and placed a finger over his lips. Let's just leave the past in the past. Unless of course we're on a historical adventure." she added with a smirk.

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her tighter. "Oh, my love, my Rose Tyler," he nuzzled her nose with his again. "How long you gonna stay with me?"

Rose lifted a hand up to his cheek, lovingly stroking his sideburn with her thumb and smiled. "Forever."

His own hand reached up covering hers before entwining their fingers once more. "Let's go home," he said leaning down to kiss her again.

"Allons-y?" She grinned; tongue in teeth.

"Allons-y." he agreed with a grin and kissed her once more.

Hand in hand, they slowly walked back to the TARDIS as the fireplace flickered and then extinguished itself behind them.

**A/N:** **That's right, he didn't look back, and I felt he shouldn't have. Ok, it's probably mean that I just made him completely forget that he offered her a trip, and while I will say I don't hate Reinette outright, I just did not like this episode. Whether or not you ship the Doctor and Rose(which I do). You can't have the writers and actors say in continuity about how the Doctor and Rose are a love story, and then have the Doctor's character turn around and fall for someone else. Had this been in the same type of situation as Human Nature and Family of Blood, I might have had more of an understanding since Rose was trapped in another world, and he knew he would have to move on. I won't go into how gross I thought it was that he's making out with the woman about 10 minutes after she had just met her as a child. Then he basically treated Rose like some sort of nagging wife that he was only too happy to run out on with the experienced mistress. Not to mention the idea of him being okay with living the slow path with her after he got stuck. Really? The man who can't seem to sit still for 5 minutes and freaks out about being separated from his TARDIS for even a day is fine living two centuries in France. C'mon, and then to come back after she died looking all pitiful with the letter. The only way I will look at this episode is based on the Doctor's actions before and after it, in which I will accept that he was infatuated because she was what he would consider a celebrity, who fancied him, and that his reaction to her death was nothing more than his constant self-condemnation and him feeling guilty about her pining for him because he promised her a trip but didn't make it back in time. On a side note, while I think Rose probably would have confronted the Doctor on this, I felt she would have been a little more sympathetic which is why our mystery girl needed to give him a good verbal ass-kicking. Whew, ok rant over. Thanks for reading and listening and reviewing.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This contains a reference from Jack to the BBC novel: Only Human **

**Congrats to all of you who figured out who the girl was. I had a hard time deciding on the name, but finally decided on **

**Shenandoah which loosely translates to "Daughter of the sky or Daughter of the Stars". Plus one of my best friends' name is Shannon, so I thought it would be cute. Oh, and "J.P." stands for Jack Peter, so you know who he was named for. So without further adieu, here's the final chapter.**

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**Chapter Four**

When the redhead reappeared in the middle of the Torchwood hub, she stumbled slightly and groaned. "Blimey, I will never get used to that," she gulped. As she steadied herself and attempted to clear her head, the awareness of her surroundings began to kick in. She noticed the building was no longer shaking and her eyebrows shot up. "I'm…I'm still here," she breathed; hands mapping out her face and hair. "I'm still here." She held up her trembling hand, turning it back and forth and flexing her fingers as she waited for the flicker. It didn't come.

"Ha! Ha! There's my girl!" Jack cheered, disrupting her thoughts as he swept her up into a hug and twirled her around. Setting her down, he pulled back to look her in the eyes, grinning. "I knew you could do it Shenan."

She smiled back up at him, but before she could respond a young man, the girl's age with a mop of spiky brown hair and the same hazel eyes came sprinting out of Jack's office. "Hey little Sis," he said holding out his arms.

"J.P.!" The redhead let go of Jack and immediately grabbed her brother in a tight embrace.

"You did it Shenan, you fixed the timeline." J.P. said squeezing her tight.

"I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to. When I left, everything was still up in the air. Dad still seemed like he was fighting to close himself off again and..."

"I told you," Jack interrupted, "If anyone could get through to him it's you. You're so much more like your mom than you realize."

Shenan chuckled lightly and then gasped as she clamped a hand over her mouth. "Mum!" When I left she was…" she swallowed the lump that rose in her throat, her eyes flitting back and forth between The Captain and her brother. "But now that J.P.'s back that means she's okay too now right? Where is she?"

"Right here sweetheart," Rose's soft voice came from behind her.

She whirled around to see her parents standing hand in hand, smiling brightly. Tears ran down her face as she ran up and threw herself into their arms. "I was so scared. J.P. was gone, Mum was really sick, and I was starting to fade away, and I wanted so badly to tell you who I was, but Dad always says knowing too much about your future is a bad thing and I…"

"Shh, shh," Rose soothed her; stroking her hair. "S' alright. You did everything you could and because of you we're here now and everything's fine."

The Doctor rubbed her back and leaned in to place a kiss on her head. "We are so proud of you Shenan."

She looked up into her parents' faces, each reflecting so much love and warmth in their smiles. Sniffing lightly she smiled back. "I wasn't sure if I gotten through to you or not. I mean, I knew mum wouldn't give up, but dad was being so damn pigheaded and stubborn ..."

"Oi!" The Doctor mock frowned.

"Well she's not wrong Doc. Trying to get through to you sometimes is like beating your head against a brick wall." Jack crossed his arms. "I have to say, Rose definitely holds the record for being patient."

"He's got a point Dad, sometimes you..." J.P. stopped short at the look on his father's face. "Right. I'm just gonna let you guys finish talking and go get changed." he gestured to the TARDIS with his thumb. "You coming Uncle Jack?"

"Yeah," he raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "All I'm saying Doc is that sometimes you just need a good punch in the face to put you in your right mind." He winked and turned to follow J.P. into the TARDIS.

"Don't think I've forgotten about that." The Doctor growled.

"Oh, I would hope not. I still owe you another one actually." Jack called back over his shoulder grinning.

Shenan wiped away the remainder of her tears and exchanged an eye roll with her mother at the clear display of testosterone.

"I'd like to see him try that now that I'm not focused on my wife and kids blinking out of existence while the building falls down." The Doctor grumbled.

Rose rubbed his shoulder affectionately. "He was jus' bein' overly protective of me that's all."

The Doctor sighed. "He was right though, I deserved it, and probably much more for that matter." He lifted a hand to her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "I can never apologize enough for what happened."

"Hey," Rose squeezed his hand. "I already forgave you a long time ago. No more regrets, yeah? And as for Jack, I think you two jus' need to kiss and make up." She grinned, tongue in teeth.

The Doctor arched a brow. "I get enough innuendos from him. I don't need you giving him anymore ideas. It's bad enough he asks you for in depth details about our se…"

"Okay then." Shenan broke in, drawing their attention back to her so she wouldn't have to hear the end of that sentence. "So, my memories are still a little foggy in places, which I'm assuming will adjust soon now that I'm back, but everything's back to normal then, yeah? Everything's back to the way it was before all this happened?"

"Oh, yes, definitely. Brilliant even. I mean, of course there are a few slight changes here and there because of the ordeal with the ship and clockwork droids, but nothing major." The Doctor reassured her.

"Exactly, everything's basically the same except…well," Rose trailed off and looked up at her husband expectantly.

"Weeell," the Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not really a big deal per say. I mean, I guess that is to say that it would have to depend on your own personal view of what you would consider to be a big deal. I mean from a technical point of view, you could look at the situation as really just a minor inconvenience. Not even really an inconvenience though since we don't really adhere to a strict sense of time in this particular matter, even though your grandmother insists we keep track of…"

"Doctor?" Rose squeezed his hand again.

"Hmm?"

"You're rambling again."

"Oh, right." He looked back at his daughter who was still staring at him expectantly. "Um, well, like I said, just a few minor changes which your memories will adjust to soon. We still ended up in all the places we were supposed to, and met the people we were supposed to meet. We saved a few planets, made some narrowing escapes, and you and your brother have a different birthday now, that's pretty much it."

"Wait, what?" Shenan asked confusedly. "Go back to that last part."

"Well," Rose paused. "Like he said, everything is still pretty much the same, and your brother's still an hour older than you. It's jus'…well, you guys were jus' conceived a little bit earlier that's all."

Shenan shook her head, still very much confused. "What does that mean?"

Rose and the Doctor looked at one another and smiled before quickly turning their attention on anything but their daughter, both blushing the same deep shade of crimson.

"Oh." Shenan paused watching the two of them fidget. "Oh," she managed again, and then the realization took over. "Oh, oh my god! Right After I left?" she said in disbelief. "I mean, yeah I wanted you to come clean about your feelings but I didn't think you would move that…wait, wasn't uncle Mickey on board?"

"I soundproofed the room with my sonic."

"Oh my god Dad!" Shenan's jaw dropped. Granted she knew her father had one of the biggest gobs, but sometimes she wished he would think to filter some things in his brain before they popped out of his mouth.

"It wasn't like we were plannin' it. It just…sort' a happened." Rose continued.

"Right, and at that time we didn't know about the bit of the time vortex that was still dormant in your mom which basically tied her to my lifespan and helped make us compatible without any DNA tinkering."

"So when we found out I was pregnant with you two a few weeks later…" Rose smiled, shifting her attention once more to the Doctor as he pulled her into his arms. "I don't think I've ever seen you so happy."

"Oh, I don't know, I was pretty happy during and after the bonding ceremony." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Were you now?" Rose asked; smiling seductively as she pulled on his tie.

Suddenly remembering their daughter was still standing there, the Doctor pulled back and cleared his throat. "So, anyway, Bing, Bang, Boom, New Birthday!" he chirped and Rose put hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Shenan gaped at the two of them. "Oh my god! I feel like I need to wash my brain out with bleach, or at least sonic my mind clean. The two of you are like a couple of randy teenagers who can't keep their hormones in check."

"Ooooh, what are we discussing, and can I be involved?" The Captain who had emerged from the TARDIS dressed in a suit and tie was rubbing his hands together vigorously and wagging his eyebrows.

"Oh, don't start." The Doctor moaned.

"I was just trying to offer my services…"

"Don't, just…don't" The Doctor shook his head.

"Did you already know about this?" Shenan looked at Jack questioningly, who put his hands up in defense.

"Know about what?" J.P. asked adjusting his tie as he approached. "What's going on now?"

"Oh, nothing really. Except that we have a different birthday now." Shenan said. "But don't worry; you're still an hour older than me. Although, you probably won't be gloating about that as much now considering you were the first to go when all this started."

He scratched the back of his head. "So, am I supposed to be upset about this?"

"No, I suppose not. I'm the one that got stuck with the unwanted imagery."

"Yeah, not sorry I missed that. Hey, so are we going or what? We promised Uncle Mickey and Aunt Martha that we'd pick them up in an hour for Aunt Donna's rehearsal dinner."

The Doctor tipped his head back, rolling his eyes. "Two words son, Time. Machine."

J.P. crossed his arms and gave his father a pointed look. "Two words dad, Bad. Driver."

"Oi!"

"Do I need to remind you about the family vacation to Florana where we instead ended up on Grundle being chased by Drashigs for two hours before we made it back to the TARDIS?"

"Or when we took Aunt Donna to Rome, and you ended up landing us there right before Volcano day." Shenan added.

"Or the time we were headed to Kegron Pluva and ended up stranded in early 21st century Bromley for over a month." Jack chimed in.

The Doctor stood mouth agape as he looked down at his wife.

"There was that first trip after we met when we were only s'pose to be gone for twelve hours but ended up being twelve months in which you freaked out my mum and had her believin' Mickey killed me." she said lookin up at him through her lashes and grinning.

"Oh, not you too." He groaned. "I'll have you know that your mother forgave me for that, and it is quite rude for all of you to just gang up on someone and…oh," he paused, a far off look in his eyes. "Remind me that I owe Mickey an apology later." Rose patted his arm again and smiled gently.

Shenan shook her head. "Well, I'm gonna go get ready. C'mon you too," she said motioning to Jack and her brother. "Let's give them a couple minutes alone. It's been a long day for all of us, and we don't need to be taking jabs at one another."

The two men nodded in agreement and headed into the TARDIS. Before stepping in behind them, she gave one last quick glance at her parents who were staring into each other's eyes again. She smiled softly and her eyes drifted up to the ceiling in a silent prayer of thanks to every deity she could think of for helping to make this moment possible, and then slipped into the timeship herself.

**~oOo~**

The Doctor reached a hand up and brushed a lock of hair behind Rose's ear before pulling her back into his arms. "So I guess I should thank you for putting up with me." He said, locking his fingers together behind her waist.

"You know 'm jus' teasin' and that's not how I really see it right?" she ran her hands up his arms and onto his chest, placing one over each heart.

"I know. I just…I know I can be stubborn and difficult at times but…" he sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you for never giving up on me."

"And I never will." She smiled brightly.

He mirrored her grin. "Do you know how much I Love You?"

"Show me."

The Doctor leaned down and captured her lips, melding her body into his as she ran her hands through his hair. She sighed happily, and he took the advantage of the moment to slide his tongue into her mouth and deepen the kiss. The Doctor didn't think he could ever get enough of her. All of those times he had denied himself; denied themselves. For so long the fear of losing everything kept him from seeing what he could gain, and now he finally had everything he could ever want. Rose had given him a son and a daughter. She was bound to him now so that they could both have their 'forevers', and he would make sure with every fiber of his being that nothing would ever again change that. He moved one hand to the small of her back to pull her tighter against him while the other wound through her hair cupping the back of her head, and she moaned into his mouth. For those few minutes, everything else fell away and it was just the two of them, lost in one another once again. The moment was soon cut by the sound of a throat clearing, and they broke apart; finally noticing they had acquired an audience.

"You two are so adorable. But seriously, don't make me get the hose." Jack quipped.

"They're not bothering us." Gwen stated. She, Ianto, Owen and Tosh were all leaning over the railing with matching grins.

"Beats those trashy romance novels you read." laughed Tosh

"And definitely better than most of the romantic movies I've seen." added Ianto

"Aww, you're such a softy. Jack chuckled putting an arm around his shoulders and pulling him down to place a kiss at his temple.

Owen looked at the trio and rolled his eyes, muttering something about working with a bunch of hopeless romantics under his breath as he walked over and plopped down in the chair in front of the console.

"Ok, I'm ready." Shenan said as she stepped back out into the room. She had changed into a silky green blouse and a black skirt that came down to her knees, as well as a pair of black flats, because of course, you never knew when you'd have to run. Plus she had never been fond of heels anyway. Her long red hair had been pulled back into a braided bun, and she was she putting on a pair of her mom's hoop earrings. "Is that what you're wearing?" she asked Owen who had slumped down in his chair and propped his feet up on the console.

He was wearing black dress pants with sneakers, and a black dress jacket over a white t-shirt that said "The Doctor is in".

"What's wrong with it? He asked, glancing down at his attire. "I already promised that woman I'd wear a bloody suit for the wedding, she didn't say anything about the rehearsal."

"Ok, your funeral. And you two need to get changed." She looked at her parents pointedly. "Remember what Aunt Donna was like when you were late to the engagement party?"

"Don't remind me." The Doctor groaned. He had been thoroughly chastised by Donna who pointed out that a Lord of Time with a time machine had no excuse for being late to anything ever.

"She's right, we better go." Rose began to tug the Doctor towards the TARDIS. "We'll stop off and pick up Martha and Mickey and then we'll change on the way to Donna's." She looked back at her husband. "And you are changing your suit."

"But I love this suit," he whined looking down at his brown pinstriped armor.

She reached up placing a finger to his lips. "No arguments Mister. Now Allons-y!" she smiled tongue in teeth, smacking him on the arse and he grinned back wolfishly.

Shenan put a hand over her eyes and groaned. "Let's just go, yeah?" she followed them and the group of their amused friends into the timeship and closed the door behind her.

The group stood around the console laughing and joking as the Doctor began the dematerialization sequence. Shenan walked over and sat next to her brother on the jumpseat and playfully slugged him in the arm, grinning.

"I know it's been a long day and everything's back to normal now but, are you really okay sis?"

"You know what, I really am." she said looking back at their parents who were wrapped in each other's arms one again; laughing at one of Jack's crazy stories. "Because it's The Doctor and Rose, in the TARDIS with their family," she nudged his shoulder with her own and smiled. "Just as it should be."

_The End_

**_A/N" I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed. I really appreciate the feedback, especially with this being my first story. I had a lot of fun writing this too. I do have a one-shot I'll be posting at some point, and maybe if a new idea comes to me, I'll try for a longer story next time. So anyway, that's all from me for now. Bye!_**


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